Divine Liturgy this week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 9/02 15th Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyr Mamas; and Our Venerable Father John who practices the Fast
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4: 6-15
Gospel: Matthew 22: 35-46, Tone 6

Monday, 9/03, Labor Day; The Holy Priest-Martyr Anthymus, Bishop of Nicomedia
8:00 (Private Intention)

Tuesday, 9/04 The Holy Priest-Martyr Babylas, Bishop of Antioch; the Holy Prophet Moses Who saw God
8:00 (Private Intention)

Wednesday, 9/05 The Holy Prophet Zachary and Elizabeth, Parents of John the Baptist
8:00 (Private Intention)

Thursday, 9/06 Commemoration of the Miracle Performed at Colossus in Chone by the Archangel Michael
8:00 (Private Intention)

Friday, 9/07 The Fore-feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God; the Holy Martyr Sozon
8:00 (Private Intention)

Saturday, 9/08 The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
9:00 Special Intention

Sunday, 9/08 16th Sunday after Pentecost —Post-feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God; the Holy and Righteous Forebears of God Joachim and Anna
9:00 a.m. For the people of the parish
10:30 a.m. +Myroslaw Trojan (10th Anniv.) requested by Nadia Trojan and Family

Epistle: Galatians  6: 11-18
Gospel: John 3: 13-17, Tone 7

Parish announcements for the coming week

Christ is in our midst!

WELCOME NEW PARISHIONERS! New parishioners are always welcomed in our parish. If someone wants to register with our parish please contact Father Iura Godenciuc at (203) 865-0388 or our financial secretary Natalia Chermak.

PARISH COFFEE HOUR: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

VIGIL LIGHT:  This week the vigil light is offered to God’s greater glory by Catherine Kolesnik for Special Intention.

PASSING:  Together as a parish, we mourn the passing of Senator John McCain. He was truly an American hero who dedicated his life to the service of our country. Please pray for the repose of his soul. May his memory be eternal.

PASTOR’S ABSENCE: During my vacation, if you need a priest you may call: Fr. Stepan Yanovsky (203) 468-6457, or Fr. Ivan Mazuryk (203) 367-5054. From September 8, Fr. Volodymyr Piso can be reached at the rectory office (203) 865-0388. Blessings, Fr. Iura.

SEPTEMBER 1st: The Byzantine Church inaugurated the First of September as the beginning of the liturgical year in A.D. 312. The Birth of the Mother of God, celebrated on September 8, is the first major feast day of our Church’s liturgical year. The great significance of the liturgical year’s first feast becomes apparent when we meditate on the fact that Mary’s birth is the beginning of salvation. She is going to carry God in her womb. It is her cooperation with God that enables Him to become man and that makes us more like God and brings us closer to Him. In a hymn, on the feast day, we sing: “Your Nativity, O Mother of God has made joy known to all the world, for from you dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God. He abolished the curse and by making death of no effect, He bestowed on us eternal life.” Let us pray:

Christ our Lord, You who provide the rains and fruitful seasons, and hear the prayers of those who humbly seek You, accept also our requests about our needs and concerns and deliver us from worry, danger and sin. Your mercies are as abundant as Your works.

Bless all our activities, direct our steps by Your Holy Spirit, and forgive our shortcomings. Lord, bless the year with Your goodness and make it a year of grace for all of us. Amen.

Resolve to make each day the beginning of a new year, a new morning, a new adventure. Christ wipes the slate clean so we can be filled up again with His spirit and give it out all day long.

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Martyrdom of St John the Baptist

Today is the feast of the beheading of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist.

Sacred Scripture reveals that John the Baptist was a cousin of Our Lord whose mission was to preach repentance to Israel in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The famous rebuke of King Herod for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, landed John in prison and on the wrong end of Herodias’ admiration. Concluding Salome’s dance for the King’s birthday he promised to give her whatever she asked for, even up to half his kingdom. Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod ordered the execution. We honor St. John the Baptist as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

The Kondakion (in the Byzantine Liturgy) reads:

The beheading of the forerunner was indeed a dreadful crime, somehow fitting into the plan of God, for John thereby became the herald of the savior’s visit to those in hades. As for you, Herodias, cry your eyes out, bewail your deed, for you preferred murder to the law of God, rejecting eternal, everlasting life, for a false and passing one.

Ukrainian Independence observance in New Haven

At a brief ceremony today following the second Divine Liturgy, members of our Ukrainian community gathered in the parish yard in front of the Holy Theotokos and our flags to pray and reflect upon the anniversary of Ukrainian Independence.

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit and to His Spouse, Mary the Mother God for Ukraine.

Here is New Haven’s Proclamation (don’t mind the errors in date)…. click to enlarge the image.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4; Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus tells us, “Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). This parable is one that is easily misunderstood. Who are those that are invited? In the context of the whole gospel, the group that Jesus chastises the most are the scribes and the Pharisees, of whom he said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven (see v. 22:2) before human beings. You do not enter yourselves (see v. 22:3), nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter” (Matthew 23:13). These are the elite, those who expected first places in the kingdom, but they put their own interests first. (“Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business” v. 22:5.) 

God, however, will have his banquet, so he brings in everyone from the streets, both bad and good. In Matthew 13:47, Jesus teaches, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.” However, at the end all are gathered, the good harvest along with the weeds. The angels collect the weeds and destroy them (Matthew 13:38-40). This explains the man who comes without a wedding garment, who is “cast out into the darkness outside. (v. 22:13)” This was not as arbitrary as it seems, for it was the Eastern custom for a rich man who gave a dinner to also give the proper clothing to his guests, so the man who refused to come in the wedding garment was someone who deliberately insulted his host, refusing and snubbing his gift. So, too, if we are to attend the wedding feast, we must put on Christ, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28). Thus, we understand this Sunday’s parable. The banquet is real and today. Today, we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Today, we are made one in Christ at his wedding feast, uniting himself with his holy Church. Today, we must put on a new garment for our soul, so that we can live a Christian life.

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Divine Liturgy for the coming week

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST

Sunday, 8/26 14th Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 1: 21-2:4
Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14, Tone 5

Monday, 8/27 Our Venerable Father Pimen
8:00 a.m. (Private Intention)

Tuesday, 8/28 Our Venerable Father Moses the Black; Our Holy Father Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
9:00 a.m. +Wasyl Dobczansky requested by Family

Wednesday, 8/29 The Beheading of the Honorable and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John
9:00 a.m. Special Intention

Thursday, 8/30 Our Holy Fathers and Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander, John, and Paul the Younger
8:00 a.m. (Private Intention)

Friday, 8/31 The Placing of the Precious Sash of Our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God in Calcoprateia
8:00 a.m. (Private Intention)

Saturday, 9/01 Beginning of the New Liturgical Year; Commemoration of Our Holy Father Symeon the Stylite
8:00 a.m. +Halyna and Ivan Lobay (with Panahyda) requested by Maria Lobay

Sunday, 9/02 15th Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyr Mamas; and Our Venerable Father John the who practices the Fast
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4: 6-15
Gospel: Matthew 22: 35-46, Tone 6

Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

WELCOME NEW PARISHIONERS! New parishioners are always welcomed in our parish. If someone wants to register with our parish please contact Father Iura Godenciuc at (203) 865-0388 or our financial secretary Natalia Chermak.

DIVINE LITURGY: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

PASTOR’S ABSENCE: During my vacation, if you need a priest you may call: Fr. Stepan Yanovsky (203) 468-6457, or Fr. Ivan Mazuryk (203) 367-5054. From September 8, Fr. Volodymyr Piso can be reached at the rectory office (203) 865-0938.

VIGIL LIGHT: This week’s vigil light is offered to the glory of God by Nina Baker for God’s blessing and health for Natalia Cybriwsky.

UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY: On Sunday, August 26th, after the second Divine Liturgy, all parishioners are invited to participate in our parish ceremony celebrating the 27th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence Day. The ceremony will be held near our statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the Blessed Virgin always protect our native land!

PIEROGI TRANSPORT: Every year our Parish Pierogi Project workers make many dozens of pierogies to be donated to the annual Ukrainian Day Festival. This year, Chairman Walter Ushchak needs a volunteer who will be willing to transport all these pierogies to St. Basil Seminary in Stamford on Saturday, September 8th. If anyone is willing to do this, please contact Walter Ushchak in the church hall or at (203-444-1953). Thank you!

Luba Dubno is selling tickets for the Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Festival. Advance general admission tickets are $5 per person, age 12 and over. Tickets at the gate will be $10 per person. Please see Luba in the church hall following the Divine Liturgy.

Sestretsi members, parishioners of Saint Michael the Archangel Church as well as friends are cordially invited to attend our “Officer’s Luncheon” to be held on Sunday, September 16, after the 10:30 Divine Liturgy. Luncheon will be held at the Biagetti’s Restaurant , 77 Campbell Ave., West Haven, CT. Price $20.00 per person. Please see additional information shown in the vestibule. See Maria Sobko, Treasurer for more information.

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Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, 8/19 13th Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m. +Edward Corfini requested by Chris Komody
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 1 Corinithians 16:13-24
Gospel: Matthew 21:33-42, Tone 4

Monday, 8/20 Holy Prophet Samuel

Tuesday, 8/21 Holy Apostle Thaddeus

Wednesday, 8/22 Holy Martyr Agathonicus

Thursday, 8/23 Holy Martyr Lupus

Friday, 8/24 Holy Hieromartyr Eutyches

Saturday, 8/25 Holy Apostles Titus and Bartholomew

Sunday, 8/26 14th Sunday after Pentecost —The Holy Martyrs Adrian and Natalia
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14, Tone 5

Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

WELCOME NEW PARISHIONERS! New parishioners are always welcomed in our parish. If someone wants to register with our parish please contact Father Iura Godenciuc at 203-865-0388 or our financial secretary Natalia Chermak.

DIVINE LITURGY: Dear parishioners and guests, after each Divine Liturgy, coffee and hard rolls are available in the church hall.

Vigil Light: This week the vigil light is offered to God’s glory in memory of Myron Teluk given by Natalie Cybriwsky.

Asleep in the Lord: Myron Teluk died two weeks ago. Please offer a prayer for his peaceful repose and for his family who mourn him. Eternal memory.

The Ukrainian State Ukrainian Day Committee wishes to thank those parishioners who attended last year’s Ukrainian Day Festival in Stamford, especially those who assisted us during the day who prepared food in their parishes. The Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Committee wishes to invite all parishioners to attend this year’s Ukrainian Day Festival to be held on Sunday, September 9, 2018. This Festival is the 51st festival and a time to renew friendships of the past and make new ones. Please make an effort to attend. The Festival will be held on the grounds of St. Basil’s Seminary, 161 Glenbrook Rd., Stamford, CT. The day will begin with a Pontifical Divine Liturgy at 11:00 a.m., celebrated by the Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford. Immediately following the Divine Liturgy and throughout the day, Ukrainian food, picnic food and other refreshments will be available. In the afternoon, a lively and colorful program will take place of Ukrainian dances, songs and music, which will include dance groups from various areas of Connecticut and New York. Following the program there will be a Zabava until 8:00 p.m. Tours will be given at the unique Ukrainian museum on the grounds as well as the Diocesan Cultural Center and you can browse through the Outdoor arts and crafts exhibits of over twenty vendors who have a variety of items for sale. Advance general admission tickets are $5 per person, 12 and over and are available from members of the committee in your parish or your pastor. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $10 per person. No food or liquor is to be brought onto the grounds of the festival, liquor will be confiscated by the Stamford police. This festival can only continue to exist if volunteers sign up to help out during the day. Please contact your pastor or members of the Ukrainian Day Committee in your parish to sign up. Please make that effort to volunteer; we need your assistance to continue this Festival, which helps sustain our Diocese, Seminary and our Ukrainian people.

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Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Read: 1 Corinthians 16:13-24; Matthew 21:33-42

This Sunday’s Gospel continues the theme of all the Gospels: that our salvation, which is freedom from sin and life in God, is founded on our Lord Jesus Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews begins: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). God has sent messengers to his vineyard, but they were killed by the vine-dressers, those who had control of the vineyard. Finally they did the same to the Son of God. Jesus, our Lord, was rejected by those in control of his people, the vineyard, who led him to crucifixion. The disciples expected retribution, but Jesus said, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” St. Paul confirmed this: “you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone” (Ephesisans 2:20).

On the cross, Jesus was abandoned by all, by the leaders of his people, by the mob that chose Barabbas (“The son of the father!”), and even by his own disciples, who betrayed him, denied him, and ran away in fear. Again, St. Paul tells us, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God …. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:18.25). It is through weakness in worldly power that the true strength of God is manifested, for “by death he trampled upon death.” We must not fear our weakness, but abandon ourselves completely to our Lord, “loving God with all our heart and mind and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves.” 

On August 10, we remembered the holy martyr Lawrence. When the pagan emperor demanded he turn over the treasure of the church, he brought him the blind, the lame, and all sorts of sick people, saying, “Here are the eternal treasures of the church.” Jesus also told the parable of the banquet, in which the servants are to bring in “the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21). Truly, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

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